Allbutt Journalings
What have we been doing in recent days
An online web journal (weblog) of Mike & Vanessa Allbutt. (Updated as often as we remember to.)
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
4 months in
Life
The days just seem to fly by. Mike's day consists of going to the beach in the mornings for a surf and/or chat with the people he meets. He continues to practice and learn more Spanish during the day. He hasn't started formal classes as yet, as he finds it more helpful to keep his own pace.
We continue to attend the weekly Thursday night surfers Bible study. Mike has lead it a few times, and Vanessa contributes with meals every second week. Through this study we continue to build relationships with the young people that attend, as well as be encouraged to keep Jesus at the centre of everything we do.
Every fortnight we also meet with Mando and Mayra, the other family we work with. We meet to encourage each other and pray for the town and the ministry. The beach front continues to be a spiritually dark and oppressed place, with many christians slipping into old habits.
Vanessa has also just started to attend a small ladies Bible study group on Monday evenings. This has been an excellent opportunity to encourage younger women in Christ. Many struggle with non-christian or luke-warm christian husbands, all of whom are part of the local surfing community.
We have also found ourselves spending time with a young married couple who have really struggled in their relationship. Due partly to the culture and partly to the local church, we have found very little resources and support for these situations. We really want to help them to sort out their difficulties and share our own experience, but without taking over their decisions and life.
Our family has grown, from two children to four (no, we have not adopted twins!). We have taken in two street pups, who have given us just as much work, if not more, than two babies. The children adore them, and slowly they are learning not to pull on tails or ears, or grab them or throw them. The pups are getting bigger now, so they are learning to fight back with their sharp nails and teeth.
The children continue to settle in. Priscila spends time with the workers here, and she has surprised us with the number of Spanish words she has learned. She hasn't started kinder as yet, as we feel she isn't quite ready.
Joel has a larger range of sounds and even says the word 'mama'. We are now entering the stage of continual fighting between the children, as they both learn to play together and to share their toys.
Where to from now?
Our biggest priority right now is to change our visas from tourist to a more permanent volunteer-worker one (called an FM3). We don't anticipate any problems, but it may take a long time, depending on who we deal with.
The vision of the Thursday night bible study group ('El Faro': the Lighthouse) is to start free surf lessons for the local kids who have no resources, and thus exposing them to a friendly christian environment. Many of them are exposed to negative lifestyles at home and grow up doing following the same paterns if they aren't shown another way to live. This vision for surf lessons also includes surf and skate contests throughout the year.
Vanessa also has a vision to start some kind of playgroup/mothers group later in the year, as she knows there is very little support and activities for mums and children.
One of Mike's priorities is to continue to learn the language. He is aiming to finish the current courses/books he is doing before taking on formal lessons soon.
Prayer points:
- quick and easy visa application process
- provision of surfing boards for the surf lessons
- wisdom in helping our young friends in their marriage
- wisdom in knowing the timing for this mother group and the resources required
- for speed in language learning and continued motivation
We can't thank you enough for all your continued support, prayers and communication. It is such a joy to see photos, hear news, even receive packages! as well as know we are in your prayers. We feel so close to home because of these things. So THANKS!
Mike, Vanessa, Priscila and Joel
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[By Mike 6:45 AM ] +
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Happy Year New
Welcome to our (late) Christmas edition. First we wanted to thank all of you who replied to our previous newsletter. If we didn't respond to your enquiry, it's because we are still working our way though the many responses. We felt so encouraged by all your emails and news. Thanks so much for keeping in touch with us.
Settling In
We are finally feeling more and more at home. The house and yard are looking much cleaner. We hadn't seen any scorpions for a couple of weeks, and I (Vanessa) was feeling more relaxed, thinking that with all the cleaning and fumigating, we must have gotten rid of them. Then Mike found a rather large one in OUR bedroom, just under the backpack, and it had 45 babies on it's back! We are yet to find the male, which shouldn't be too far away and which should be bigger than the female. I no longer feel too relaxed!!
Christmas
This has been our first Christmas without extended family. We have done our best to make it Christmassy, getting a tree and a few decorations. We celebrated with a roast lunch and cheesecake, and even had a pinata for the children. Although it is winter here, it is still hot where we are, so it isn't too different to home. We have enjoyed the lack of advertising and materialism since the season still seems to be very much a religious occasion.
Address
Many of you have enquired about an address. The house where we live has no street number, so a friend has lent us their business address. Mail is more likely to arrive there, since it is a well known address. Here it is:
Bikini Brasil
Ale Noguera/ Mike y Vanessa Allbutt
Calle Del Morro S/N Esq. Bajada Las Brisas
Edificio Pacifico Surf 150
Puerto Escondido
Oaxaca, 71980
Mexico
Finances
Many of you have also inquired about making a financial contribution. Please pass these on to the Pioneers Office in Australia. They are able to better manage our finances for tax reasons. You can contact them on 1800 78 78 89.
Thank you again for your emails and news, we trust you had a lovely Christmas and a good start to the new year.
Mike, Vanessa, Priscila and Joel
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[By Mike 6:43 AM ] +
Monday, November 26, 2007
We've arrived!
Greetings everyone, and welcome to our new edition, live from Puerto Escondido, Mexico.
Travel
After leaving Melbourne, we spent a week in Tassie resting and catching up with family. It was a much needed break. We then flew 14 hours to Los Angeles. We didn't get much sleep, but it was quite a peaceful flight. We stayed in San Diego for a week, adjusting to the new time zone.
We then headed to Florida (about two days before the big fires started in San Diego!) for the US Christian Surfers conference, and we stayed on with the regional coordinator of CS for a few days.
Then the big day arrived. We left Orlando at 6 am and arrived at our new home that afternoon. Praise God, all our travel went well, and all our suitcases arrived intact. The children travelled extremely well, considering all the different connections we had to catch.
Our new home
After three weeks on the move, and sleeping in eight different beds, we finally arrived home. The view from this house is simply breathtaking. We look down to a small beach in a cove. We get the beautiful ocean breeze to cool the house down, and we fall asleep to the sound of waves crashing. We feel so blessed to be able to live here.
The house had been empty for three years, so it needed a lot of work. We've trimmed, cleaned, fixed, moved and painted. There is still more work to do, but it is now at a stage where we can live in it comfortably.
We have been so blessed to have very supportive friends, both locals from the church and expats, who have helped in so many ways. The only problem with this house is that it is removed from town, so there are no buses or 'collectivos' (utes that carry people on the tray). So we invested in a car, to help us get around without relying on taxis.
Mike
Mike has waited months and months to get here, to where there is a perfect wave almost every day. But he hasn't gone surfing too often yet, as he has put in many hours into fixing the house and purchasing a car.
There are still a few big jobs that need doing around the home, and once these are done, he will start to settle into a routine, which will include surfing, meeting the local guys, and learning the language.
Vanessa
The first few weeks haven't been easy for Vanessa. It was hard trying to clean, prepare meals with foreign ingredients, be a mum to unsettled and unhappy children, adjust to the humidity and heat, and unpack. Things are settling down a lot now. It helps knowing your way around, having a car to go shopping in, and knowing what ingredients to get where. The house is also feeling more like home.
The hard thing to get used to is all the cleaning. Because of all the dirt and sand around the home, the house has to be continually swept and mopped. The constant cleaning also helps minimize the number of the other permanent residents of the house (i.e. scorpions, cocoroaches, ants, gheckos).
To help her out, we have a local lady who comes three days a week. She not only does some cleaning, she is also showing Vanessa how to cook some local dishes.
The children
Both Priscila and Joel are more settled now than they were previously. They both struggled with the heat, and having very different routines. They've also both had very bad nappy rashes, due to constant diahorreah. We're continually reminding them to keep their shoes on (so they don't accidently step on a scorpion) and not to drink the tap water. They both get lots of comments from strangers. People come up to touch their hair and skin, and even pick Joel up without asking.
The children at church are always wanting to play with them and hold their hands. Joel doesn't seem to mind the attention so much, but poor Priscila gets tired of it. She burries her head in my lap and refuses to talk to anyone.
Priscila now says three words in Spanish (Hola, Adios and Gracias). She gets a bit upset in Sunday School because she doesn't understand the language. We are considering sending her to a Christian daycare a few mornings per week, so she gets exposed to the language and children her age. Joel doesn't seem very interested in talking as yet. He doesn't say a single word yet. But he is very good at pointing and grunting!
We wanted to share so much with you, we appologize this is such a long newsletter. Please join us in praising God for the way He has watched over us in our travel, and as we have settled in. We can't thank Him enough. Some prayer points include:
- that the children will continue to settle in,
- getting used to the weather and the language
- that Mike will have opportunities to meet locals as he surfs
- for deeper relationships with people we already know
- that we may be a blessing to our local church and community
We trust you are keeping well, and remember to write often. We love hearing from you, especially now that we are so far away.
Mike, Vanessa, Priscila and Joel
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[By Mike 6:40 AM ] +
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Praise & Pray
We have so many things to praise God for:
- The relatively smooth operation to have Vanessa's wisdom teeth removed, and the speedy recovery
- The provision of the finances to pay for the surgery, as we had to go privately due to our limited time left in Australia
- Accommodation has been arranged for us for some of the time we will be in the US
- The availability of a home in Mexico, fully furnished and close by to the beach and town
- Our finances are almost 100% (we are still trying to finalize the finer details of our budget)
- We have been able to pay off an outstanding loan
- The provision of travel visas for the USA, valid for 12 months, which will allow us to enter the country as needed
- God has even been faithful in providing for the small things, such as us purchasing suitcases at 60% off the original price!
Things are quickly coming together, which is both encouraging and scary. In the next week we travel to Brisbane to farewell family and friends. Then we return to Melbourne to pack up our house. Finally we spend one week in Tasmania with family and friends, prior to flying out of Melbourne to the US.
There are so many things happening, we trust you will be able to pray with us for the following things:
- Safety as we travel backwards and forwards
- That the children will be flexible with so many changes
- For memorable quality times with family and friends
- That we can sell our household belongings quickly and to the right people
- For wisdom in making decisions about visas for Mexico and all the paperwork involved
- That we can finalize our financial situation (and Mike's business arrangements)
- For inner rest in a time of stress and change
We will send another update in a few weeks but since there are less than 44 days left until we leave Australia we better get back to the departure preparations.
Mike, Vanessa, Priscila, Joel.
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[By Mike 6:35 AM ] +
Friday, July 27, 2007
Fond Farewells
Update
We are still working towards leaving on October 10, flying out of Melbourne to LA. Mike has until the end of August to finalize all his websites and find someone to hand his work over to. This is currently a big issue for us, so please pray that he will find the right person to take over his work, that it will be someone we can trust and that will do a good job of it.
Our support level is around 82%, so we continue to trust that the remainder will come in before we leave in 75 days (and counting!)
Victoria
Christian Surfers Melbourne is putting on a Trivia and Auction Night as a fundraiser to help us. This will be held on the 25th August at Knox. If you'd like more details please talk to us or Paul Lacey on 0423 623 121. It'd be great to see you there!
[Download a printable flyer for the Trivia Night (1.24mb)]
Queensland
To all our Queensland friends and supporters, we are making a final trip to visit you and spend time with family. Since our time is limited, and we hope to see as many of you as possible, we would like to invite you to an afternoon with the Allbutt's. We don't have all the details as yet, but we hope to have an open house (somewhere!) on Saturday the 1st September, so please leave this afternoon/early evening free.
Tasmania
We will return to Melbourne after our Queensland trip, pack up our house, have a commissioning service at our home church on the 30th September, then head to Tassie for a week to recharge and spend time with family. We would also love to catch up with as many friends and supporters from Tassie, so we hope to also have an open house on the Saturday 6th October. More details to come.
Vanessa loosing her wisdom (teeth, that is!)
Vanessa is scheduled to have her wisdom teeth taken out on the 30th July, since she has had some trouble with them lately. Praise God that we can have it done prior to leaving! Please pray that it will all go smoothly, and that it wont disrupt the children (and husband) and their routine too much.
Thanks again for taking an interest in us.
PS: Keep an eye out for the new prayer cards, coming soon!
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[By Mike 7:30 AM ] +
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Start the countdown!
Family Road-trip
You might remember from our previous letter that we were planning a road trip over April. We piled the whole family in the car, along with whatever we could fit in, and drove to Sydney, Brisbane, then back to Nowra, then home to Melbourne - all in a three week period.
We spent Easter weekend at the CS national conference in Sydney's northern beaches. This was a good time to see where CS Australia is heading, as well as to meet other CS members.
Once this was over, we headed to Brisbane to spend time with Mike's family. We had a great week there, and it was special seeing our children get reacquainted with their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.
We then drove south to Nowra (two hours south of Sydney) to meet up with CS members who are also preparing to move overseas. The most encouraging part of this weekend was seeing that there were other people going through the same situation as ourselves, experiencing the same frustrations and blessings as we are.
Overall, this road-trip was an amazing experience, but not one we would like to repeat too often.
Future Plans
The most exciting news we have to share is that we finally have our airfares booked! Our needed monthly support reached 81% this week, so we went ahead and booked our flights for October 10th 2007.
When we leave (in less than 130 days!) we hope to stay with friends in Los Angeles for a few days, then head to Florida for the USA national CS conference. We trust that this will be a time to make connections with members and leaders of CS there. After this conference, we will make our way down to Puerto Escondido in Mexico.
It is an exciting time, to finally have a date to work towards, however it is also daunting to think of all the things that still need doing in the next few short months.
We still require about 20% of our monthly budget in order to go, so we continue to trust God for the last of the finances as we prepare to leave. 
Mike needs to finalise all the websites that he has been working on, as well as decide what to do with his business. We have to pack, store or sell all our belongings. We would also really like to spend some time with family (in Tasmania and Brisbane) and close friends prior to leaving.
Please pray for us, for wisdom in decision making, as well as for protection and strength as we step out in faith by booking these flights.
More news from us will come shortly but please tell us your news too.
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[By Mike 6:52 PM ] +
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Good Progress!
Happy New Year! We trust you had a safe Christmas and New Years. We apologize for taking so long in updating you with our latest news, but as you probably understand, the end and start of the year is always a busy time!
Christmas 06
We had a lovely time in Brisbane in November for Roz's wedding. We were able to see many family members that we had not seen in a long time. We also enjoyed having both Vanessa's and Mike's parents in Melbourne in December.
Partnership development
As you have probably worked out, we have not left for Mexico as yet. We continue to work towards raising the support needed to live there, particularly financial support. Of the total amount needed every month to live in Mexico, we have 65% covered in pledges from family, friends and our local church. We will book flights once this level reaches 80%, however we will not leave until we have the total monthly amount required.
We also require an amount of money to cover airfares and establishment costs. This amount is also required in full prior to us leaving for Mexico.
Future plans
This time of waiting has been both exciting and somewhat nerve-racking. It is a wonderful experience to see God provide through the people around us, but the uncertainty of departure dates adds stress to everyday life. We continue to trust God however, that we are moving towards the plan He has for us.
In the mean time, we continue everyday life as usual - Mike working full time building websites and Vanessa caring for the children. We continue to share our vision with those around us and pray that God stirs people's hearts and challenges them to serve Him whole heartedly, however that might be.
Christian Surfers Australia is having their annual conference over Easter. This year it will be held in Sydney. We are planning to attend this conference as a family, and hope to head overseas shortly afterwards.
Visible prayer reminders
We still have some Prayer Cards available. If you haven't yet got one and would like us to send you one (or some) then please let us know and we will arrange it. A digital prayer card is also available online.
On our CS Mexico website you can also download a Partnership Invitation Letter or a Partnering Response Form.
PS. Joel is now 150 days old -- and he is growing up well. Priscila is also developing well. At just 675 days old she sure has a lot to say.
PPS. On February 14th Vanessa and Mike are celebrating 5 years since they got engaged in 2002.
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[By Mike 11:02 AM ] +
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Profitable Partnerships
We trust you are well and that you have had a blessed year. Here is some recent news.
Our growing family
Our biggest news is that Joel has finally joined our family. He was born at 1.30am on Wednesday the 13th September. It was a quick, straight-forward labour and birth, and he weighed 4.25kg (or 9b 7oz).
Priscila has taken a little time to adjust, but she loves to give Joel lots of kisses and cuddles. She just struggles with the attention mum gives him. But we trust it won't be long before she is used to the new family dynamics.
As for Vanessa, she recovered quickly from the birth and has settled into life as a mother of two. Although some days are hard, she somehow manages to cope OK, even with less sleep.
We would like to thank all those who helped us during this time of adjustment, from family members to friends from church. It was a real blessing to feel so supported and loved.
Departure Preparations
We continue to prepare for our departure to Mexico. We have received "the green light" from Christian Surfers to leave early as we want next year, and we would like to be leaving by February. The time of our departure will depend on the amount of support raised.
We are currently working on partnership development, establishing a support network that will pray for us and support us in the years ahead. We are also working on the practical aspects of leaving, such as setting up insurance and flight details.
CS US continues to work towards having a Board of Directors to oversee the mission in Mexico.
Where to from here?
Our family will be traveling to Brisbane in November to attend the wedding of Mike's twin sister, Ros. We anticipate that it will be a great time to catch up with several family members for the last time before we leave.
As usual, the end of the year will be a busy time for us. When we return from Brisbane, Vanessa's family will be visiting, spending an early Christmas with us. Mike's parents will also be traveling down from Queensland to join us over the Christmas period. We look forward to this time we can spend with our families, as we are unsure when we will be together again.
January is shaping up to be busy as well, as we pack up and prepare to move overseas.
Visible prayer reminders
We still have quite a lot of Prayer Cards available. If you would like us to send you one/some then please let us know and we will arrange it. A digital prayer card is also available online.
On the CS Mexico website you can also download a Partnership Invitation Letter or a Partnering Response Form.
PS. Joel is 50 days old/young this week -- and he is doing well. Priscila is also coming along well at just 575 days old/young.
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[By Mike 5:45 PM ] +
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Plans Progressing
Leadership Matters Course
As we indicated in our last newsletter, Mike attended the Leadership Matters Course in July. Although it was hard being apart from Vanessa and Priscila for two and half weeks, Mike found it a very worthwhile course to attend, and now feels more prepared and equipped to handle a leadership position.
Vanessa and Priscila managed to cope without Mike, spending a week in Tasmania with Vanessa's parents and finding friends to stay with them in Melbourne during the remainder of the time.
We would like to express a huge thank you to all those who prayed for us and financially helped us through this time. It was amazing to see God's hand in supplying our needs through friends like yourselves. We received gifts just when we needed to buy groceries or put fuel in the car. So again thank you heaps for your support.
Pioneers Acceptance
After our interview in June with Pioneers staff, we have been officially accepted into the Pioneers family. We have also received a draft copy of the agreement (an MoU) between Pioneers and Christian Surfers.
So for us, things seems to be moving along nicely again in terms of finalizing where we stand with the different mission groups.
Departure Preparations
What's left to be done, you ask?
- The draft MoU agreement needs to be formally agreed to by all parties involved. The finer details also need to be worked out and documented (such as who will be responsible for our accountability and how exactly how will it take place).
- A governing mission board needs to be established. This board will consist of different members interested in the Mexico mission and will be based in the US.
- We also need to finalise other pre depature details regarding budget, travel and accommodation arrangements. This will include partnership development, which refers to setting up a support network in Australia that will commit to praying for us and supporting us while overseas. [Would you like to be involved in this way? Please let us know.]
Photo: A friend Leo riding a 'nice' wave in Puerto Escondido.
Other News
We are all keeping well.
- Priscila has settled into a nice routine, sleeping well during the day and night.
- Vanessa has had a few struggles with managing everyday chores as she gets bigger, but we've been able to find different ways of managing.
- The baby continues to grow well, and kick a lot. The baby is expected to arrive in less than four weeks (September 12 is the due date). Hopefully the birth will coincide with visits from both our mums, who are generously giving up their time to help out.
- Mike's sister Sharon will also be visiting in October with the same purpose of helping out (and spending some quality time :) ).
- We will then all be heading to Brisbane in November to celebrate the marriage of Ros - Mike's twin sister .
Thanks for your interest in where we're up to. If you'd like more information, or would like to support us (download a response form), please contact us.
We still have quite a lot of Prayer Cards available. If you would like us to send you one/some then please let us know and we will arrange it. A digital prayer card is also available online.
P.S. We value your support and appreciate the time you took to read this update when Priscila was 500 days old.
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[By Mike 1:46 PM ] +
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Mid-year Preparations
¡Hola / Hello Friend!
Catch up
Greetings from cold Melbourne. We have been in our new home for over three months now, and we continue to enjoy the space and freedom it gives us. Mike continues to work full time from home building websites. We've really seen his business grow well, although he still needs to put in long hours.
Priscila
Since Priscila had gastro 5 weeks ago, there seems to be something wrong with her gut. We've spent almost every night taking it in turns to hold her and comfort her as she seems to be passing very painful bowel motions. We are currently waiting for test results to come back, to determine whether she has a bug or a parasite, or whether her stomach isn't breaking down food properly.
Please pray that it will be easily treated, whatever the problem may be. We are all very keen for her to sleep through the night again.
Other than that, she continues to develop well. She has started to say words such as peas (please), ta, woof woof (dog), no, yeah, zoo (shoe) and baby.
Baby
Baby continues to grow well. We have three months left until he/she arrives. It kicks and punches very often (sometimes at the same time!), reminding Vanessa that he/she is still there. But we are more than ready for him/her. The baby room is all set up and ready, and the clothes all clean and folded nicely. Although we anticipate lots of hard work, it will be nice to have a little newborn again.
Pioneers
We had our final interview with Pioneers last week. A letter will be sent from the interviewers to the leadership of Pioneers recommending our acceptance into Pioneers. Once this occurs, we need to finalize details regarding each party's role (ours, our church, CS Australia, CS US, CS International, and Pioneers). This can be a long process as there are so many participants involved.
Please pray that communication will flow clearly and agreements made.
US trip
After having several discussions with CS US staff, we have decided not to attend the CS US national conference. One of our most important reasons for attending was to spend time with the leaders. It appears that we would not be able to meet with them during this time, so we felt it would not be wise to go.
Leadership Matters
A recommendation was made for Mike to attend the Leadership Matters Course in July in the Sunshine Coast. This course address leadership issues that Mike will probably encounter in Mexico. We really felt it was appropriate for him to attend, especially since he has not held a formal position in leadership for some time.
We really need your prayers at this time. Mike will be away for two and a half weeks, which means he will not earn an income for that time. We also have to arrange to cover the costs of airfares, accommodation and the course itself. Please pray that God will provide all we need during this time, both financially and practically.
Vanessa will remain in Melbourne with Priscila for most of the time, with one week in Tasmania with her parents to (hopefully) have a rest.
Please remember Vanessa and Priscila in your prayers. We're really trusting God for good health and sound sleep. It can be very tiring looking after a 15 month old on your own, especially being 30 weeks pregnant. Sickness or bad nights will only make it worse.
Thanks for your interest in what we're up to. If you'd like more information, or would like to support us in sending Mike to the Leadership Matters Course, please contact us.
We also have quite a lot of Prayer Cards available. If you would like us to send you one/some then please email us back and we will arrange for it to be posted.
P.S. We value your support and appreciate the time you took to read this end of financial year update.
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[By Mike 12:27 PM ] +
I trust that this Allbutt Journalings helps bring you up to date with what I have been up to recently. If you want to contact me then click here. Thanks for reading some of my thoughts. If you want to read some of the older files then they have been stored in the archives here.